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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/24980605">Wings And Bushy Tails</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Why_do_you_want_to_know/pseuds/Why_do_you_want_to_know'>Why_do_you_want_to_know</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Summer's Banned Together Bingo [3]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Supernatural</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>A hint of Angst at the start, Alternate Universe - Animals, Alternate Universe - Woodland Creatures, Alternate Universe- No Supernatural, Banned Together Bingo, Bird Castiel (Supernatural), Cas is an awkward bird, Cas is bad at social situations, Castiel Loves Dean Winchester, Charlie Bradbury Ships Castiel/Dean Winchester, Dean Winchester Loves Castiel, Dean Winchester is Sam Winchester's Parent, Dean doesn't like being alone, Dean is bad with change, Dean raised Sam, Does this count as a meet-cute?, Everything is Beautiful and Nothing Hurts, Fluff, Interspecies Relationship(s), Lonely Dean Winchester, M/M, Mary and John are still dead, Meet-Cute, Squirrel Dean Winchester, Sweet Castiel/Dean Winchester, They meet, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, but barely, i think so, it's cute, literally just fluff</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-06-29</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-06-29</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-04 01:46:59</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>2,148</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/24980605</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Why_do_you_want_to_know/pseuds/Why_do_you_want_to_know</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Written for the Banned Together Bingo 2020, for the square Sugarcoated Gay Love Story</p><p>*~*</p><p>He still didn’t know what it was about Cas causing him to act like that, the bird was… well. Cas was a bird. Dean was a squirrel. They would never work and why on earth was Dean thinking about this? He had never - in his entire life - wondered how he and someone else would work as a couple. Why was Cas any different?</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Castiel/Dean Winchester, Charlie Bradbury &amp; Dean Winchester, Dean Winchester &amp; Sam Winchester, Sam Winchester/Jessica Moore (mentioned)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Summer's Banned Together Bingo [3]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1768180</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>11</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>64</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Collections:</b></td><td>Banned Together Bingo 2020</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Wings And Bushy Tails</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Hello!!<br/>Thank you so much for clicking on my story!!<br/>I hope you like it!!</p><p>Now with art from the amazing Kelpie (<a href="https://cuddlemonsterdean.tumblr.com/">Kelpie's tumblr</a>)</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Dean sighed as he looked around his tree hollow home. It used to feel cosy, suffocating at times, but now it just felt huge, like Dean would never be able to fill it, no matter how much he puffed up his tail or how many acorns he gathered.</p><p> </p><p>Up until today, he had shared it with his brother. They had kept each other warm in the winter and cleaned it together, stocked it with acorns and kept the hollow full. They had grown up in here, stayed even after both of their parents were killed by hunters, Dean had thought they would stay here forever. But then Jess had come. Now, Dean loved Jess, she was amazing and she and Sam were perfect together, but that didn't mean that Dean hadn't realised this would happen some time or another. </p><p> </p><p>Sam moved out to share a hollow with Jess, and Dean was all alone. For the first time in his life, he was all alone, and he didn't know what to do now.</p><p> </p><p>The sun was shining through the leaves of the tree, casting soft shadows across the floor and normally Dean would have smiled just from the sight of it. However today he had spent hours helping Sam move all of his stuff out and start a new chapter of his life, a chapter without Dean. Today he needed to get out.</p><p> </p><p>His small paws clung to the tree as he swung out of the hollow, running up the trunk until he reached the top and his head popped through the leaves. The sun was just starting to set, painting the sky in reds and pinks. Dean felt a sigh ripple through him, the sun was starting to go down which meant it was almost time to sleep, but his hollow was empty. He didn't want to sleep alone.</p><p> </p><p>He didn't want to be alone.</p><p> </p><p>He wrapped his tail around him as he sat on a branch, watching the sun as it set. He hated being alone, it made him feel vulnerable and useless. Still, even saying that, he was proud of his baby brother and would never want Sam to stay just for Dean. That was the main reason he didn't say anything about this to his brother, the other one being he didn't want to show weakness. Just because he was a wuss who couldn't be alone, didn't mean he had to broadcast it to everyone else.</p><p> </p><p>A dark shape swooped above him, reminding Dean that he really needed to get back to his hollow unless he wanted to become owl chow. Any other bird and Dean wouldn't be worried, but owls were different and Dean would not out it past them to eat him.</p><p> </p><p>He jumped back down the tree, ready for a quiet cold night. He might as well get used to it now, it was unlikely he was going to find anyone to join him any time soon. Even before Jess, Sam had dated other squirrels, but Dean just hadn't found anyone, and by this point he doubted he ever would. He just didn't click with any of them, not in the way Sam and Jess did, not in the way which would lead to anything more than friendship.</p><p> </p><p>He climbed back into his hollow, annoyed but not surprised over the fact that it didn't feel any smaller than before, even after the view from the top of the tree. He knew that most people would be the opposite, wishing that their homes were bigger or that they had more space, but Dean was always different. Even when Sam used to complain that they needed more space, Dean would just see it as warm and cosy. Safe.</p><p> </p><p>He curled up tightly against one of the walls, cushioning his head on his tail and willing his brain to ignore the emptiness of the room, ignore how quiet it was, and just stop thinking so he could fall asleep.</p><p> </p><p>*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~</p><p> </p><p>A loud screech woke Dean up the next morning, panic filling him as his brain tried to figure out what was going on. Was it an owl? Was he in danger?</p><p> </p><p>He blinked hard, shooting to his feet and readying himself to run, when his eyes managed to focus on the entrance and he realised what was going on. It wasn't an owl, it was Charlie. The little robin was hopping around on the entrance to his hollow, clearly trying to wake him up.</p><p> </p><p>"What?" Dean muttered tiredly, stretching his limbs out and grooming the dirt out of his tail, "this better be good if you're waking me up this early."</p><p> </p><p>"It's nearly midday," Charlie replied, fluttering her wings in a way which was very clearly unimpressed, "it's not early."</p><p> </p><p>Dean rolled his eyes, "not the point. Why am I awake?"</p><p> </p><p>"A new bird moved in a few trees away!" Charlie explained, "I wanted to go and welcome him, and I figured that you’re basically his neighbour now, so you might as well come along.”</p><p> </p><p>Dean rolled his eyes, still annoyed at being woken up, but he did have to agree with Charlie. New creatures were always exciting and with Sam gone, it would be nice to make a new friend.</p><p> </p><p>“Alright, give me ten minutes to eat something, then we’ll go,” Dean agreed with faux annoyance.</p><p> </p><p>“Deal,” Charlie shouted, jumping into the air for a moment before hopping into Dean's hollow and sitting down near the entrance. Dean used to have some chairs, but he’d sent Sam off with them - Sam had needed them more, he was getting a new hollow with his girlfriend, Dean could just get some new chairs later - so for now everyone would just have to sit on the floor.</p><p> </p><p>Dean ate his breakfast slowly, not wanting to accidentally choke himself, or give himself indigestion, over a new bird. He couldn't help but wonder if Charlie already knew the new guy, she did seem especially excited this time, normally she waited until Dean was up before she dragged him along for introductions.</p><p> </p><p>Saying that, normally he was up earlier than this. He was normally more of an early-squirrel, but he always slept longer when stressed and right now he was lonely, and loneliness made him stressed.</p><p> </p><p>“Alright,” Dean hummed once he was done, wiping his paws off on his tail - it was nut crumbs! It wasn’t that unsanitary - and gently dusting his fur off, “let’s go, lead the way Red.”</p><p> </p><p>Charlie chirped happily, making sure to fly at tree level so that Dean could follow her as he jumped from tree to tree. It didn’t take them long before Charlie was landing on a branch, she had been right about Dean and the new guy practically being neighbours, they were definitely in the same section of trees anyway.</p><p> </p><p>Dean shook the tree bark out of his fur, strangely worried about first impressions, as he followed Charlie to a slightly higher branch, which he could see the beginning of a nest resting on. A blackbird was perched in the middle of the nest, clearly weaving some new twigs in the gaps. His feathers were glossy black with an almost blue sheen and his eyes were just filled with more knowledge that Dean thought eyes could hold. Dean couldn’t seem to stop himself from wondering if the guy had a wife or any kids, how old was he anyway? Was he here alone? Why did he choose this wood?</p><p> </p><p>Why did Dean care about any of that?</p><p> </p><p>“Hello!” Charlie chirped happily, landing on the branch along from the new guy, “my name is Charlie, welcome to the woods!”</p><p> </p><p>The blackbird looked up from his nest making, clearly slightly taken aback by Charlie’s forwardness, before chirping in a voice much deeper than Dean had expected, "Thank you, I'm Castiel, it's nice to meet you." His words were stilted, like he didn't know how he was supposed to react in that situation, but he sounded sincere, like he actually meant every single word he said. Even now Dean could tell he wasn’t one of those birds who flew around telling lies, this guy sounded like he’d never told a lie in his life, even if Dean knew that was practically impossible.</p><p> </p><p>“And I’m Dean,” Dean squeaked, shaking the weird thoughts out of his head and leaping onto the branch in front of Charlie. He felt slightly bad when he clearly startled Castiel, the bird obviously hadn’t been expecting him to appear.  “Nice to meet you, I live a couple of trees that way,” he explained, pointing in the direction of his hollow, “so if you need any help, you can always come and find me.”</p><p> </p><p>“Hello Dean,” Castiel replied, stopping building his nest to hop over to where Dean was standing. He ended up standing slightly closer than was socially acceptable and no matter how right it felt to Dean, he had to say something. Cas clearly wasn’t used to social cues, this was probably accidental.</p><p> </p><p>Wait? Cas?</p><p> </p><p>What on Earth? He was a nickname kinda squirrel, but he never nicknamed people until they were close friends. Well, normally never. Maybe it was just because Castiel’s name was so complicated, he was just trying to simplify it or something?</p><p> </p><p>“Um, dude,” he muttered, every fibre of his being telling him not to say it, but the part of his brain that remembered that Charlie was right there forcing him to, “personal space.”</p><p> </p><p>Castiel bobbed his head in a nod, hopping backwards until there was an acceptable amount of space between them. Okay, it was still just less than acceptable, but Dean didn't have the strength to tell Cas to move any further back, so that would have to do.</p><p> </p><p>Dean looked into Cas' eyes, seeing an emotion in them which he just couldn't name. His eyes seemed to hold entire conversations, entire stories, and Dean couldn't help himself but stare back, trying to translate.</p><p> </p><p>He didn't know what Cas saw, but he was staring back just as intently, eye contact heating up the space between them as Cas clicked his beak and Dean absentmindedly fiddled with his tail.</p><p> </p><p>A loud cough broke their concentration, reminding both of them that Charlie was still there and did not want to spend her day watching them stare and waiting for them to remember her existence.</p><p> </p><p>“Sorry Red,” Dean muttered quietly, shuffling back a couple of steps. He still didn’t know what it was about Cas causing him to act like that, the bird was… well. Cas was a bird. Dean was a squirrel. They would never work and why on earth was Dean thinking about this? He had never - in his entire life - wondered how he and someone else would work as a couple. Why was Cas any different?</p><p> </p><p>“It was nice meeting you two,” Cas said with joy in his voice, “I need to go and get some more sticks for my nest, but I hope to see you again.” Dean and Charlie both nodded, waving goodbye before they started heading back to Dean’s tree.</p><p> </p><p>Dean scampered down the tree, leaping from branch to branch and using all his will power not to look back. There was something in his chest, something trying to drag him back. Something making him want to help Cas weave the sticks together and create a cosy nest.</p><p> </p><p>A cosy nest for both of them.</p><p> </p><p>*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*</p><p> </p><p>Dean smiled as he sat on the highest branch of the tree, the sun setting in the distance and bathing the entire forest and sky with fiery reds and gentle oranges. It made him nostalgic, watching the sun set, to a time when he was alone, and didn’t know what joy the future would hold.</p><p> </p><p>When he was worried he would be alone, in a too big hollow, forever.</p><p> </p><p>A dark shape swooped overhead, a small black blotch in the sky as Cas landed next to him on the branch, pressing close to Dean and curling a wing around his side.</p><p> </p><p>“Come on love,” he chirped gently, “It’s getting late, we should go back to our nest.”</p><p> </p><p>Dean grinned in agreement, throwing himself down the trunk with a shout of, “It’s a hollow!” He could hear fluttering behind him as Cas flew down and Dean knew that Cas would reach the hollow first. The perks of flying and stuff.</p><p> </p><p>By the time Dean had thrown himself into the carefully woven nest of twigs, inside the hollow he had spent his life in, Cas was already settled in, a wing lifted for Dean to tuck himself under.</p><p> </p><p>The nest they were curled up in was comfortable, carefully crafted by both Cas and Dean a few seasons ago when they decided to move in together. It shrank the space inside the hollow, making it a comfortable, cosy, size.</p><p> </p><p>The hollow was full and Dean? Dean had never been happier.</p>
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  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Hope you enjoyed!!<br/>Kudos and comments make my day!!<br/>I hope you have an awesome week!!</p></blockquote></div></div>
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